I think we do have a soul !
There is no way to describe what I experience without a soul that transcends the personality. There is something in us which is more than my habits, limitations and combined past.
According to Christianity and Islam we each have an immortal soul, that may rot in hell if we don't behave. According to Hinduism we have a soul (atma) that will reincarnate till we grow enlightened (or awake) enough to not need to reincarnate any further. Buddhism agrees on the reincarnation, but some Buddhists believe that what reincarnates changes too much to be called a soul (anatma). Psychologists agree we have a personality, but don't know about what happens after we die.
Soulful content
A religious debate
- The Spiritual Brain
- Neurology doesn't agree
- Oliver Sacks is the pop star of neurology
- Humans don't have a soul - links
- Vedanta explained - Talks with Sri Nisargadatta
- Video's on Consciousness: Holistic consciousness
- NDE's prove my point
- NDEs - some personal accounts of what's after death
- Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives
- People do have a soul - links
- Learn more about Consciousness itself
- Do we have a soul? Your turn to talk!
- Not just a sack of atoms?
- More Spiritual Lenses
- Thanks for all your support!
- New Amazon Spotlight
- New Amazon Spotlight
The Spiritual Brain
A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul
This book was written by a neuroscientist with the help of a journalist. This makes the book, for the subject, very readable. But it's still about a very difficult subject, so I'm not surprised that some people just can't follow it. Also - because of the nature of the subject, there are going to be people who disagree.
The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul
Amazon Price: $17.13 (as of 11/10/2009)
Neuroscientists usually do not agree there is a brain. In this interesting book you will read about the exception to the rule.
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Neurology doesn't agree
Apparently we DO NOT have a soul, or so scientists think
Oliver Sacks is the pop star of neurology
He writes well. He's funny and most importantly, he makes it real easy to imagine what it's like to have some weird neurological illness. With the result that neurology becomes easier to understand as well.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales
Amazon Price: $10.80 (as of 11/09/2009)
I love this book.
Through case studies one really gets a feel of what it's like to live with a brain that's off somehow. And through getting a feel of how the brain functions when something goes wrong, one also gets a sense of how the brain functions normally.
I'd recommend this to anyone interested in neuroscience.
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Humans don't have a soul - links
Disagree? Join this religious debate and share why we don't have a soul...
I could not find many publicly available articles online that explain just why people often disagree with my point. So please help.
1
Do Humans Have Souls?
Attack on the most basic Christian religious ideas more...2 points
2
Biology, Consciousness, and the Definition of Death
When does a human life end? This question used to more...1 point
3
The No-Soul doctrine in Buddhism explained
within this human being, consisting of mind and bo more...1 point
4
The Problem With 'Life'
What is the meaning of life? Actually, I would be more...1 point
Vedanta explained - Talks with Sri Nisargadatta
I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta
Amazon Price: $26.95 (as of 11/10/2009)
Video's on Consciousness: Holistic consciousness
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Holistic Consciousness, Enlightenment and Science Videos
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These video's go into the deepest problems inherent in our culture and attempt to solve them on an equally deep level: on the level of consciousness. Most of these people also agree that in order for our culture to face up to the basic problems inher...
NDE's prove my point
Near Death Experiences (NDE) as proof for the soul
When a person gets medically labeled as 'brain-dead' - yet wakes up hours, days or even weeks later (and yes, that happens sometimes) - they often report experiences of all kinds of things. That's called a Near Death Experience. Some of those experiences sound a lot like the reports about what happens after we die by Tibetan Lama's. Others sound like they were actually conscious and knew what was happening around them.
To me it seems that science can't have it both ways: either the brain was not dead, and that explains why consciousness didn't stop - or the brain was dead and consciousness restarted the brain somehow. If it's the first: then people don't die as quickly as medicine would like us to - in order for them to harvest organs for organ-transplants. If the second: the soul does exist.
NDEs - some personal accounts of what's after death
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Videos about NDEs - Near Death Experiences
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Videos about Near Death Experiences: both reflection about the topic, as well as testimonies.
Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives
Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives
Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 11/10/2009)
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People do have a soul - links
If you agree, add links (proof!) that help me make my case
Add a link that makes my case.
1
Do we have a soul?
Many scientists, especially neurologists, assume a more...2 points
2
From Within Outwards: the Way of the Universe - John Algeo
according to The Secret Doctrine, each of us is a more...2 points
3
Suicide is not death
Suicide, like any other murder is a sin because it more...0 points
4
Transforming the Self
The goal of all mysticism is to cleanse the heart, more...0 points
5
Expanding Our Centre of Consciousness
ALTHOUGH almost every spiritual tradition speaks o more...0 points
Learn more about Consciousness itself
This book will give you a very good introduction to the current scientific debate. The book describes the research, the various interpretations of the results and the many questions left open. Fascinating stuff. Eye opening.-
Psychology and Neurology books
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Neurology and psychology are two sides of the same coin - at least for ordinary people. Both deal with that tricky topic: consciousness. Psychology starts with the experience and behavior of people like you and me. Neurology starts with the physical...
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Consciousness: an Introduction, by Susan Blackmore
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Fascinating. I bought this book because I first heard of this author as a former parapsychologist. It's always good to read books by those whom you disagree with - but know what they are talking about. Reading it, I find she really does know what she...
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The View From Within: First Person Approaches To The Study Of Consciousness
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Miscellany of articles on the edge of the science of consciousness. Challenging and fascinating. On the roll of the body in consciousness and healing, about the metaphysics of introspection and more. On the attempt to integrate the experience of con...
Do we have a soul? Your turn to talk!
Join this religious debate
We DO have a soul
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byYes, of course we do!
sandralynnsparks says:
Eventually we will be able to get objective evidence of conscious energy when scientists know what to look for. What is needed is an ability to isolate and identify the signature of the motion of conscious energy and discover how different energies are identifiable by unique energy wave patterns, things too subtle to be understood at this time.
Just as Pierre and Marie Curie spent much time and effort trying to isolate the glowing element that was eventually called radium, you cannot objectively measure and test psychic energy or soul phenomena until the test itself is invented. It has not been invented yet.
Therefore, we can only verify, to a point, that souls survive death and do not need a physical presence in order to continue. The experiences of realizing this will continue to be personal, subjective experiences, not impersonal objective ones.
But, the truth is, it was only in the past couple of decades that we were able to prove the identity of living people through DNA samples, and even that is not 100% foolproof. Why should we be so surprised you can't identify the identifying patterns of conscious energy?
Posted September 22, 2009
spirituality says:
Some versions of Buddhism insist we don't have a permanent soul (anatta).
Posted September 18, 2009
lily says:
what religions believe we dont have a soul
Posted September 17, 2009
reven reborn says:
i know i have a soul. i cant explain it. i just know.
Posted July 18, 2009
cconiam says:
Yes, we do, no question. When my daughter died (at 25) we were all surrounding her and she reached out past us as if reaching for someone...I don't believe this was a neurological response to dying, she reached out very slowly in a very deliberate way, I believe her soul was leaving her body at that moment and there was someone waiting for her.
Posted July 07, 2009
Vincen says:
Yes, but when you're ready to know it you will learn. People are at all different levels of spiritual evolution. What's obvious to some is inconceivable to others. Seek and ye shall find, but the desire to seek must occur first or there will be no seeking and no finding.
Posted July 06, 2009
Paul64 says:
If we didn't have a soul, we would be like animals who just survive on basic instinct. I believe we are programmed to know we have a soul and it's up to each person to seek out it's purpose.
Posted June 02, 2009
Janiece says:
We ARE Soul. We have a body. That's the way I see it. Soul is the eternal part of us that existed before we came into this body, and will continue to exist after we leave this body.
Posted April 24, 2009
JaguarJulie says:
I am absolutely convinced that we have a soul -- have thought that since my days in Catholic school.
Posted April 17, 2009
Shindig says:
I have to fall into this category because I do not know. When I do not know, or cannot know, according to my senses or according to facts, I default to what my intuition tells me. I have not found any evidence to the contrary, and cannot explain the feeling that is 'me' in any other sensical way.
I agree with what neurobiology says, unless it makes claims that I do not have a soul, because it does not have the wherewithal to make such a claim.
Posted April 14, 2009
Jack2205 says:
We all have a soul. It is what makes us who we are. That continues on after this life.
Posted March 02, 2009
julcal says:
I woke up musing about this a little more. Do we HAVE a soul?
Without a soul WE wouldn't exist! The material WE are but
a reflection of the nonmaterial.
Posted February 14, 2009
avocado47 says:
We absolutely have a soul. It's difficult sometimes to feel that one has a soul because we are limited by our physical bodies. This is why it seems impossible to prove the existence of a soul within the physical world.
I have spoken in dreams with relatives who have passed away. They have told me things that I couldn't possibly have known (and turned out to be true). Can I prove this scientifically? Not at all. It's not physical - you can't take the energy waves from my brain and figure out what I am thinking. Does that mean my specific thoughts don't exist because they can't be proven scientifically? Of course not!
Posted February 14, 2009
julcal says:
one more thing. To those who say "science says" I say:
"there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are
dreamt of in your philosophy" ~ Hamlet
insert science for philosophy
Posted February 10, 2009
julcal says:
i have no doubt because i've had so much experiences, mostly
in terms of prophetic dreams. But I've had other connections
to knowing when things will happen before they do. A couple
most convincing dreams were the following: I dreamed that my
therapist was going to die before she even got her diagnosis.
I was even told the month. the night she died i was awoken
with a feeling of chaos and every color imaginable and more,
purple being central. then there appeared a white woman and a
circle on the floor. The moment the woman put her foot in the
circle, everything vanished: the colors, the chaos, the woman
the circle. I was left in the most peaceful cloud, just
floating. A voice said, "this is what heaven feels like"
One more: I dreamed of a solid black man. Behind him were
shimmering lights. He said: "behind me is everything you've
ever forgotten" I took that to mean that when we are born we
FORGET everything. When we die we REMEMBER everything. All
that golden. Yes, we have a soul.
Posted February 10, 2009
Joan4 says:
Scientists also believed the world was flat at one time. Of course we have a soul - some of the scientists just don't realize that yet. That's okay. They will figure it all out one day, maybe.
Posted January 13, 2009
Jewelsofawe says:
I believe we do have a soul. I believe we reincarnate also, until we do not need to.
Posted January 13, 2009
No way, our sense of 'I' is a neurological side-effect
ShushiDenMaster says:
it's about time we understand, why do you argue such an important issue when this question should be treated with the utmost concern and importance...
If there is a doubt, then you lose. We call ourselves all grown up and advanced, your lucky to have a church at all to practice your 'religion' it seems all a waste of time, effort and money to prove anything.
Why is it such a struggle to lay facts that ghost could be real? Is it easier to grow a plant or to burn one?
Even science can pin point life as we know it, and call it a 'soul' as we do...invisible energy and forces that make life as we know it, even a scientist would agree that 'this' is the father of life.
but it's not real is it until it is official...
Ever heard the expression, "we can see right though you?"
This means leave this issue to those that understand and claim no such thing, than you trying to get a cheap evil thrill and ride a wagon...
it get all too sad, when you see a person say to another, only because you have the authority, "lier lier pants on fire.." Thank god at least we can see though you, but your evil...but it's a start...we got a light people!!!!!!
but don't touch it..it only look like what you know you deserve from a responsible human race, kindness from the holy ghost.
I'm tied of this issue...save yourselves.
Posted December 22, 2008
DavidtheBrain says:
The soul is a figment of your imagination (very fitting, no?). Sentience is completely physical. The only energy controlling what you do is the electricity in your brain. I am an atheist, and an advocate for AI, so by default, that is my belief. Science or nothing. Prove it to me with duplicable evidence and experimentation. Nobody ever seems to be able to.
Posted November 17, 2008
Not just a sack of atoms?
What do you think about this religious debate?
JESUS wrote
Yes, We do have a soul.
I will never forget what I experienced when I was a teeneager.
It was a saturady I was asleep during the morning, For some reason I saw the sun light coming into my room and I "woke up", I heard my sisters and my mother talking and laughing in the front porch and I felt like I went there. Once I got there, I saw them eating a juicy watermelon but it was weird they didn't notice my presence, minutes later I woke up again and I said that all I saw was only a dream.
I got up and I went to the front porch again and my mother and sisters noticed me there while eating watermelon, laughing and talking and wearing the same clothes, and having the same conversation, this time the weight of my body was heavier than when I woke up the first time.
Posted July 02, 2009
OhMe wrote...
Great lens and very interesting topic. I firmly believe we have a soul.
Posted May 31, 2009
Janiece wrote...
Enjoyed your lens, Spirituality! 5 stars!
Journey of Souls is an awesome book in my opinion!
Posted April 24, 2009
JaguarJulie wrote...
I absolutely, without question, believe that we have a soul.
Posted April 17, 2009
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